Comfort food: Grandma’s Corn Chowder

Yesterday was my grandmother’s birthday.

She passed away in 2008 while I was a few weeks into what would be a six month trip around the Pacific. She had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s years before, and her health had been deteriorating, so before I left home, I’d said my goodbyes and made peace with the likelihood that it might be the last time I’d see her.

I got the news while checking my email at an internet cafe and I broke down in tears, even though I knew it was coming. A few days later in a small village outside of Bangkok, a Thai friend helped me to set up a Buddhist ceremony to honor my grandmother’s spirit.

Five years later, here on a rainy November morning, I find myself thinking back to grandma’s kitchen table. I can imagine the steam rising up from a bowl of her corn chowder.

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Making my grandma’s corn chowder recipe makes me nostalgic.

I always loved the thin broth, sweet corn and salty bacon pieces. I can remember her making the soup, and later when she was no longer the one doing the cooking, my dad following the same recipe.

It’s nothing fancy, but that steaming bowl can really hit the spot.

These days I try to avoid cooking from a can as much as possible. I get most of my meals through farmers market veggies and I keep a pretty small pantry.

There are two 24-hour grocery stores within walking distance from my home today, yet my grandmother grew up in the plantation era and I know she needed to stock up to feed the family. Hence, our pantry was always full of the canned ingredients to make comforting bowls of chowder to warm you up in the rainy Makawao weather.

She didn’t shop at a farmers market but we always had avocados from the trees she tended outside, and jellies made from the fruits around the yard – strawberry guava, surinam cherry, lilikoi, poha berry. I wish I’d learned to make them when she was still around to teach me, but I had no interest then.

Today, I make a special trip down the canned foods aisle to make my grandma’s corn chowder, not her own recipe, but one of the many she hand-copied onto index cards weathered with age and use. I scanned them all after she passed, and I’m thankful to be able to turn to them today. Grandma thought this one was “Good” (capital G) and so do I.

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Further reading on Hawaii’s comfort foods

Another great place to find nostalgic recipes like my grandma’s from a variety of authentic cookbooks from Hawaii, I highly recommend joining the Facebook community called the Kau Kau Chronicles! It’s an amazing resource with PDF versions of many of the classic spiral-bound cookbooks that many of us have in our collections.

Note: As a member of the Amazon affiliate program, I earn a small commission for purchases made through the other resources I’ve linked below. Of course I only recommend products that I love and use myself.

So with that said, here are a few of my current favorites that make me both hungry and nostalgic along with the reasons why you’ll love them too:

Cook Real Hawaii

Sheldon Simeon is one of Hawaii’s most “real” and beloved chefs. If you’ve ever been to any of his (past or present) family-run restaurants on Maui or watched Sheldon as the fan favorite on Top Chef, you know this is local comfort food at its best! Now that I live away from Hawaii, Cook Real Hawaii is one that I refer to all the time.

The Poke Cookbook by Martha Cheng

One of my all-time favorite Hawaii food writers, Martha Cheng’s writing style and knowledge of Hawaii’s foods truly brings new discoveries for me with every article she writes. The Poke Cookbook is a deep dive into the history of Hawaii’s most recognizable dish (seriously, it’s still strange to see “poke bowl” restaurants all around the world.

The Food of Paradise by Rachel Laudan

Culinary historian Rachel Laudan’s The Food of Paradise: Exploring Hawaii’s Culinary Heritage is a look at all the layers of history that took us from traditional native foods in Hawaii to the various ethnic foods that arrived during the plantation era, to what we call “local food” today. Fascinating and one of my favorite references.

You can find other recommendations for ingredients, snacks, sauces and more in my Amazon list for Hawaii-related items that help me when I’m homesick or just craving a little taste of home.

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7 Comments

  1. Hi Malia, I plan on trying your grandma’s recipe tonight. I am also from Makawao, but living in Georgia at the moment. For some reason, I got the urge to make this soup today and found your recipe. Thanks for bringing me home, at least for the night 🙂

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